Base14

So in an effort to promote the upcoming online release of “The Girl and the Fox” and provide some context as to how the film was made, we’ve launched our first “making-of” tutorial for “The Girl and the Fox.”  This one is all about our process for creating hand-drawn animation using Adobe Flash. It’s been over TWO YEARS since our last YouTube tutorial so I hope everyone waiting for some more Base14 secrets can now rest easy. Below you’ll find the link to download the Flash files (CS5 version). Enjoy!

» Download the tutorial files right here

It’s the day we’ve all been waiting for! The online premiere of “The Girl and the Fox” has been set for June 4th, 2012. Look for it on Vimeo and YouTube.

A lot is going into preparations for the online premiere. The entire film is being remastered in 32-bit color, animating and compositing are getting some touch-ups, and an entirely new musical score has been written just for this version! We’ll also be releasing some “Behind the Scenes” tutorials on YouTube to give fans a better idea of how the film was made.

So mark your calendars! It’s going to be an exciting month!

It’s a great month for residents of Northern California! We’ll be screening “The Girl and the Fox” five times over the next two weekends. First, at the San Joaquin Children’s Film Festival in Stockton, CA. They’ve made a lovely little page for our film on their website, where you can also buy tickets. We’ll be screening twice, on Sat. 21st and Sun. 22nd.

The following weekend will be my next in-person appearance, at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. I’ll be there for three separate screenings of the film. The main event and official competition showing is on Sunday, April 29 at 12:00 PM, as part of The Storytellers Show. That’s the show anyone reading this should attend, if interested. But also exciting is two educational screenings for local school groups. I’ll be attending those and fielding questions provided by the kiddies, hoping to inspire at least a few young filmmakers in the process.

So for anyone in the great NorCal region, please pay a visit! I’ll be giving out cupcakes, as always.

Now that I’ve been working solely as a studio artist for a bit of time I have begun to notice a pattern. My pieces are beginning to pile up around me in the studio. Already I feel as if I’m gathering my treasures like some ancient Egyptian ruler, preparing my tomb for future archeologists to discover and pick over long after my time is passed.

But this to me is a bizarre and depressing way to think about my art. The solution I have reached is to explore fragility; to essentially give my work a life cycle. This most recent piece made of silk, spruce and cotton thread is patiently waiting for when I release it out into the world where it will flourish in the most vivid activity of life while it is slowly battered and dematerialized into nothingness.

Ah, the sweetness of letting go.

So I have about a bajillion new festivals I need to add to our tour list and blog about, but for now let me note that the next festival screening “The Girl and the Fox” that I will be personally attending is the Los Angeles Animation Festival this Sunday, March 11th, 4:00pm at the Regent Showcase Theatre at 614 N La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90036. Tickets are… relatively cheap. Mention this blog post and receive a free autograph!*

I’m also planning on being in town for the San Francisco International Film Festival in April. It’s been a while since I’ve visited the Bay Area so that should be a fun one, too!

*The size and legibility of your autograph may vary

Time for some recap. Coyote Song is a mini collection that I put together in September, 2011. Originally inspired by the song from The Seedy Seeds, it was how I made my transition between undergrad and grad. “I’m not afraid of what you got… singin’ your coyote song.” I used natural dyes made from materials found within walking distance of my studio and rust that had accumulated within the dye lab, allowing me to fully bond with the new environment I was living in. I used a shibori technique on crepe silk to emulate rock landscapes and kept the designs casual with a touch of sass. The accessories (including this clutch) are made out of the same tree stump that was used for dye. Serene, right? See the full set of looks here.

Tomorrow is the opening of the MFA show at Indiana University. I will be displaying my recent piece Moment, finished in November 2011. It is an exploration of the limits and possibilities of dyeing and felting. I used natural dyes to create basic tones of gray on wool roving which I then blocked out into areas to create a portrait before felting it into a piece. To the textiles orientated, this process in itself is a bit of a geek-fest.  Felting has many inherit difficulties (such as shrinkage) which make it difficult to have enough control over the work to create an image.

Moment presents a memory, soft and gentle. It is a moment of enlightened euphoria, affected by the haze of memory but with a physicality of surface firm enough to grasp onto. The choice of process reflects the necessary patience and resolve required to hold onto memories and maintain convictions. Distortion is unavoidable in both felting by hand and in the process of remembering moments. The resulting softness of the felt makes it desirable and conveys my own sense of longing for things past. (closeup)